The ATP World Tour Finals is now just under two months away and the Race to London is just heating up. The first set of post-US Open events took place last week, with a handful of London hopefuls starting to build momentum with some good results. Another set of small tournaments will be taking place this week with the big prizes starting next week. Here’s what’s going on in the Race to London.
Race Update
Six contenders for the ATP World Tour finals were in action last week. However, there was very little change in the rankings. Lucas Pouille was the only person who moved up in the rankings, jumping from 15th to 13th, knocking down Nick Kyrgios and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, courtesy of the first title of his career in Metz. In that final, he defeated Dominic Thiem, who remains in 7th in the race, putting a little bit of distance between himself and the players chasing him. David Goffin, who lost in the semifinals in Metz, remains in 11th.
The St. Petersburg Open did little to affect the Race to London. Roberto Bautista Agut’s semifinal performance did little to help his outside bid to qualify, as he remains in 16th place and just under 1500 points back of the eighth and final spot. Ninth place Tomas Berdych made up a little bit of ground on the final qualifying spot, closing the gap on Rafael Nadal for eighth spot to 580 points. Milos Raonic’s second round loss had no effect on his bid to qualify for the tour finals, although he remains in a strong position, sitting fourth, 1800 points ahead of Berdych.
This Week’s Action
For the second week in a row, the qualifying positions cannot change. There is a maximum of 250 points up for grabs and ninth place Berdych sits more than twice that far away from the final qualification spot. That means that the eight men currently in qualifying spots are safe for another week.
Chengdu Open
Dominic Thiem, who it seems has a very different definition of “limiting his schedule” than everyone else, will look to continuing scrapping points to consolidate his spot in the Race to London. He is the top seed this week in Chengdu and will jump to sixth in the Race to London should he reach the final. The only other Race to London contender in action in Chengdu is Nick Kyrgios, who currently sits in 14th, 1285 points out of qualifying. He anything less than a title would not be very helpful in the Aussie young gun’s outside bid to qualify.
Shenzen Open
Two chasers in the Race to London are in action for the second week in a row, as Tomas Berdych and David Goffin will look to inch closer to the qualification zone. They are the top two seeds this week at the Shenzen Open. With a title, Berdych would nearly cut the deficit behind Nadal for eighth in half. Just by reaching the semifinals, he would move to within striking distance of the eighth and final spot for next week’s 500-level events. Goffin needs a big result this week if he wants to keep his outside chance alive. He is currently just under 1000 points back.
Players need to be in the top eight in the Race to London to qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals by November 6th, the end of the BNP Paris Masters. The Tour Finals start on November 13th.